Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Merry Christmas

I wish you a blessed Christmas and all the best in the New Year. I encourage you to remember the reason for Christmas and what we are really celebrating. It isn’t gift-giving – we already have the Greatest Gift of all time available to us. It isn’t the human spirit – we already have the Holy Spirit to help us. It isn’t family and friends, important as they are – what a Friend we already have in Jesus.It isn’t sentimentality and tradition.

We are celebrating the Incarnation – the Word was made flesh (or took on human form) and dwelled among us. Jesus didn’t just come for a visit, to see how we were doing. He didn’t just come to teach, although he did that. He didn’t just come to perform miracles, although he did that. He didn’t come just to give us an example as to how we should live, although he did that.

He came so that “God and sinners [could be] reconciled” as that great Charles Wesley carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” puts it. We might not quite understand how that works or why reconciliation between humanity and God is necessary. We’ll never understand it completely, but try to accept it on faith. Jesus came because it was necessary – not for God, but for us.

One last point. I read this article on the e-newsletter “Pastor’s Weekly Briefing” put out by Focus on the Family. Judging from this article, people may be getting sick of being bullied by political correctness. See what you think.

According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 93% of Americans celebrate Christmas. However, in past years, due to political correctness, disinformation and even the threat of lawsuits from the ACLU and its allies, religious expression at Christmastime was becoming increasingly absent from the public square. But today, because of many Christian defense ministries, several of the “anti-Merry Christmas” stores and organizations across the nation have been silenced about their resistance in the wake of such overwhelming public enthusiasm to say “Merry Christmas.” The years of educating Americans with an awareness of their rights by organizations such as Alliance Defense Fund® and annual efforts to reclaim Christmas show that: •69% of Americans now use the “Merry Christmas” greeting compared to 56% previously.•61% of Americans now oppose generic “Happy Holidays” greetings, compared to 44% previously.•69% of Americans prefer “Merry Christmas” over “Happy Holidays.”